Tag Archives: injury

Marathon Dreaming: Detour

Posted on by
30

Well friends, here comes the announcement I did not want to have to make.

I’m not going to run the Route 66 Marathon anymore.

I am, however, going to run the Route 66 Half Marathon.

When I started the process of training for a marathon, my hopes were high and I was unbelievably excited for the journey.

Then, life got in the way.

It’s a busy time of year for us all, and I commend those of you who have the time to commit to training for marathons. It’s proven to be too touch for me.

After my longest training run of 15 miles, I sustained an injury that has only gotten worse over time.

To top it all off, this weekend I had some sort of stomach bug and could barely move the morning of my scheduled 18.0-mile training run.

Have I mentioned that the race is less than a month away?

Laying in bed that morning – sick, hurt and exhausted – I started to beat myself up for failing at my goal.

Then I realized how ridiculous that was.

If anyone else I knew was having this predicament, I would tell them that not running the marathon was no big deal.

That there would be other marathons.

That their health was the most important thing.

So, I gave myself that little speech and it worked.

I realized that not only was it not safe for me to continue training for this marathon, I just really didn’t want to anymore.

A week ago, I would have considered changing races to be the ultimate failure, but now I realize it’s just another step in my marathon journey.

I know that I’ll run 26.2 someday. I am a runner. I love to run. I love to set goals and accomplish them.

I’m really looking forward to this half. I know I can run the distance and even though my leg isn’t healed I think I can make it through safely.

Then, I can continue looking forward and figure out what my next goal is.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this process.

I know I’ve been a little bit distant from the blog lately. This decision, and some other things, have been weighing heavily on my mind over the past month and I’ve been distracted.

Also, my personal computer is at the doctor, so it makes it harder to prepare good content.

I do hope you’ll stick around because I still majorly heart this little blog and plan to get back to the good stuff soon!

Happy Monday!

Marathon Dreaming: Injured?

Posted on by
24

Since I was off work yesterday for Columbus Day, I decided to use the extra time to run 16 miles, per my marathon training plan.

I’m not going to lie, 16 miles didn’t happen. 10-ish miles happened, but not 16.

This is because I can’t determine what’s going on with my body. I mentioned a while ago that I was having pain in my left calf and didn’t know if it was an injury or not.

Well, I still don’t know the answer to that conundrum, but I do know that it still hurts – a lot, and all the time. Also, I have another nagging and consistent pain in my right groin. Ugh.

Neither pain is enough to keep me from running, but it is enough to make me nervous about pounding out 16 miles. By the time I finished 8 I was in agony.

The sad thing is that my endurance felt good and I really wanted to keep going.

What this means for my marathon, I’m not sure.

I’m still going to proceed with my training as best as I possibly can and I’m still going to participate in the race – I just might be walking a lot more of it than I had wanted to.

Hopefully, with lots of stretching, icing and smart training - both tender areas will feel better before race day and everything will be fine. I just don’t want to seriously injure myself, so I’m going to play it safe.

I promise to be back eventually with the conclusion on my depression series, but this week promises to be quite hectic and I don’t want to rush through it.

In the meantime, here are some random thoughts from my run yesterday.

Honey toast with fruit is a great pre-run breakfast, but it’s hard to eat enough to keep your energy levels up during a long mile run.

pre-run breakfast

As a result, I’ve decided that I need to start playing around my during-run nutrition before the actual marathon.

 Does anyone have any faves I need to try? I have been leaning towards Clif Shot Bloks, but I’m kind of over them now.

Honey toast is really, really good. I want more.

honey toast

Dead butterflies make me really sad.

Dead spiders make me kind of happy.

Fuzzy caterpillars are cute, but a bit alarming.

Parking your car in the middle of the day in the middle of a grass field with your door open smoking a cigarette is quite creepy.

Running in a city with little to no sidewalks is frightening. I almost got hit twice by drivers not paying attention to the road.

Speaking of which, why are so many people not at work or in school? Is this normal?

26.2 miles is really, really far. I’m scared. What was I thinking? I kind of can’t wait for this to be over.

Yep, I’ve gotten to that point. Luckily(?) there are only 5 weeks until the marathon, and then I can be done with this goal!

When I finish this run, however far I make it, I’m going to eat a whole pizza.

post-run veg pizzaFurreall ya’ll. I actually only managed 3/4 of it, but this girl likes her pizza and sometimes the thought of it makes running a whole lot happier.

Q’s:

What’s your favorite thing to put on toast? My fave used to be apricot preserves, but I’m in full on honey-loving mode right now.

How do you handle minor injuries?